1. Field
A reclosable food container suitable for use in the take-out food industry. More particularly, an easily openable and reclosable food container having a cavity which is erected from a single unitary blank.
2. Relevant Art
The expansion of the take-out and prepared food industry over the last several years has increased demand for suitable containers. The Chinese food pail is well-known in the take-out food industry. It is preconstructed at the manufacture plant by folding the pre-cut blank and fastening the gussets with glue or metallic wire. This simplifies use by the food seller who need merely fill the container and close the lid. These Chinese food pails typically have a deep narrow configuration which makes them unsuitable for storage of food not intended to intermingle. Moreover, such pails uniformly have a four-panel lid structure which requires four different folding operations and the use of both hands to achieve closure.
Another type of food carton is fashioned in a shallower configuration. The same four-fold lid structure is also employed by this type of container.
Still another type of food container is fashioned in the form of an open tray for storing a predetermined amount of food. It is erected at the point of purchase from a pre-cut, pre-scored carton blank. These blanks are typically erected by manually performing numerous time consuming folding and tucking operations at the point of sale. The resulting container often leaks at the corner formed by interlocking tabs and slots. Some variations employ glue to secure the adjacent panels, but leaking remains a problem. Such containers are unsatisfactory for packaging many prepared or take-out foods.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to have a reclosable food container with a simplified lid closure.
A reclosable food container is created from a unitary blank. The container includes a bottom panel, a pair of opposing end panels extending from the first bottom panel, a lateral side panel extending from the first bottom panel, and an opposing side panel extending from the bottom panel on an opposing side to the lateral side panel. The container also includes a plurality of foldable gussets, where each gusset hingedly connects a side panel-end panel pair. The container also includes a lid extending from the lateral side panel, where the lid includes a top panel and a tuck flap. There is a score line between at least one of the lateral side panel and the top panel, and the top panel and the tuck flap. The score line has a ratio of penetration between about 0.1 and about 0.9.
A method of making a reclosable food container from a unitary blank includes scoring the unitary blank with a plurality of score lines and a plurality of fold lines. At least two of the score lines define a top panel and a tuck flap of a lid. The score lines have a ratio of penetration between about 0.1 and about 0.9. The method also includes folding along two pairs of substantially parallel fold lines that define a bottom panel. The method also includes folding along four sets of fold lines, each set defining a gusset extending between pairs of adjacent walls of a cavity, and adhering each gusset to an outer surface of one of the adjacent walls. The lid extends from a wall of the cavity.